Category: Issue 363
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Nonstick Cookware Allegedly Linked to High Cholesterol in Children
A recent study purportedly ties compounds in nonstick cookware and waterproof fabrics to higher cholesterol levels in children. Stephanie Frisbee, et al., “Perfluorooctanoic Acid, Perfluorooctanesulfonate, and Serum Lipids in Children and Adolescents,” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, September 2010. Researchers from West Virginia University evaluated 12,476 children and teens in the mid-Ohio River Valley to…
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Denise Grady, “In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer,” The New York Times, September 6, 2010
Where science has left a void, politics and marketing have rushed in,” writes Denise Grady in this New York Times article detailing the contentious scientific debate over bisphenol A (BPA) and its potential human health effects, including “cancer, obesity, infertility, and behavior problems.” Because researchers have not yet reached a consensus, the issue of BPA’s…
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ABA-TIPS Teleconference to Examine Farmed Animal Rights, Consumer Labeling Issues
The American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section’s Animal Law Committee will convene a teleconference on September 28, 2010, to discuss farmed animal welfare and related labeling issues. Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University professor well-known for her work in animal science, will be among the panel of experts to discuss (i) “commercial…
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Webinar to Address Agricultural Antibiotics
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s (IATP’s) Food and Society Fellows and Healthy Food Action project have announced a September 16, 2010, webinar titled “Superbugs, Super Problems: Agricultural Antibiotics and Emerging Infections.” Three presenters who recently testified before Congress will address “[t]he new scientific consensus . . . that routine, unnecessary use of antibiotics…
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Heartland Sweeteners Again Asked to Discontinue Artificial Sweetener Health Benefit Claims
For the second time in less than a month, Heartland Sweeteners has apparently been told by an advertising industry self-regulatory body that the company should not promote its Nevella with Probiotics® artificial sweetener with immune system and digestive health claims unless it can support them with “competent and reliable evidence.” Information about action taken against…
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EEOC Sues Meatpacker for Alleged Discrimination Against Muslim Employees
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reportedly filed lawsuits in Colorado and Nebraska federal courts against a meatpacking company that allegedly “created a hostile work environment for its Somali and Muslim employees due to their race, national origin, and religion.” According to the EEOC, the workers’ supervisors and co-workers “threw blood, meat, and bones…
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U.S. Files Criminal Charges in Honey Smuggling Operation
Federal officials have indicted executives of a German import company, a Chinese national and a number of companies, charging them with importing honey from China into the United States by illegal means that avoided the payment of duties and allowed product adulterated with antibiotics to enter the country. U.S. v. Wolff, No. 08-417 (N.D. Ill.,…